Series: Idioms - A series of stand-alone stories based off random idioms.


A/N: All definitions can be found in From the Horse's Mouth by John Ayto.


Spoiler Warning: This is a tag to S9 Ep 4 The Ties That Bind and contains pretty major spoilers.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.


Idiom: the naked truth: the plain truth, without concealment or embellishment.

Naked

Daniel watched angrily as Vala left his room. What had she thought? That he'd just jump into bed with her because she wore some sexy lingerie? He shook his head to dislodge the image of her in said lingerie as it flitted through his mind. She'd tried to play him, make him feel sorry for her. Did she really think he'd believe that story about a fiancé? She'd done nothing but lie from the moment they met. Why should now be any different? He flopped back onto his bed, suddenly too tired to stand any more, and played back bits of the conversation.

"There was someone once. In fact, I was engaged."

Yeah, right. He resolutely ignored the emotion he'd heard in her voice. She made a living as a con artist. She was probably a master at pulling out emotions like that at the drop of a hat.

"Once you've been spat on, and stoned by the people of your own village..."

He told himself he'd imagined the choked sound to her voice on that one.

"Are you messing with me?"

"is it working?"

Daniel sat straight up as he realised she hadn't actually denied or confirmed his assumption. She just fell back on sarcasm, as usual.

"Crap." he said and stood, pulling on his glasses as he left the room. Stopping in front of Vala's door, he took a few moments before knocking. When she didn't answer after the third knock, he turned to the guard and motioned toward the lock. "Do you mind?"

The SF looked at him for a second before relenting.

"Thank you." Daniel said and entered the darkened room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust but when they did he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Vala was hunched over on the end of her bed and, if the shaking shoulders were anything to go by, she was crying.

"Vala." he said quietly and she immediately stiffened. He watched as her hands went up to her face, obviously wiping away her tears.

"What do you want, Daniel?" Her voice sounded small and watery and he kicked himself for being such an ass.

"I think we need to talk."

"Hmph." she sniffed a little, still keeping her back to him. "I think you pretty much said it all back there."

"No, I didn't." He moved to sit on the bed next to her, causing her to turn away again. The movement made him sigh in frustration, but he continued on. "Listen, I know I said some pretty harsh things back there but you have to admit, your track record for telling the truth hasn't exactly been stellar."

"Well, now I feel so much better."

"You didn't let me finish." When she didn't respond with a sarcastic comment, he took it as a good sign. "You said you had a fiancé. Is that true?"

"What do you think?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. I want to hear the truth from you. Were you messing with me?"

She stayed silent for so long, he didn't think she was going to answer. Finally she turned toward him with a defeated sigh. "No, I was not messing with you. It's true. I was engaged to a young man from my village before Qetesh took me."

Daniel smiled and lay a comforting hand on her cheek, wiping away a stray tear. "Tell me about him."

"What's there to tell?" She pulled away and stood to pace the confines of the small room. "I was engaged, Qetesh took me as a host, the Tok'ra freed me. When I went back to my village, no one could see past their hatred for Qetesh to even consider that I was no longer her. Not even Traylon. When they started throwing stones, I got out of there as quickly as I could and never looked back."

"Traylon. That was your fiancé's name?"

"Yes. Why do you care? It's in the past and that's where I'd like to keep it."

He stood up and went to her, placing his hands on her arms to get her to stop pacing and waited for her to look at him before he spoke. "From the moment you dropped into my life you've annoyed me, bewildered me, angered me. But you also intrigue me. I want to understand you."

"There's nothing to understand." she told him, trying to pull away but he wouldn't let go.

"I think there is. I think there is a very complex person under this shallow façade you show to the universe. That's who I want to understand."

"Why?" she asked, sounding absolutely perplexed.

"Not sure yet. Why don't you start by telling me about your past and we'll go from there."

"Why couldn't you be like every other man in the universe and simply take sex when it's offered?"

"I guess I'm just not normal."

"You can say that again." Her laugh was watery but at least she was finally dropping her shield enough to allow him a glimpse inside.

"So, tell me about your childhood." he said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and invited her to do the same. She looked uncertain for a moment before acquiescing.

"All right, where do you want me to begin?"

"What were your parents like?"

She laughed, if a bit sardonically this time, but started to tell him about how she'd grown up. The more he learnt, the more he understood. And the more he understood, the more he wanted to know. He wasn't sure where this was going but he knew one thing for certain; he didn't want it to end just yet.

The End